Representative examples of the prior art include German Auslegeschrift No. 1253083 and German Offenlegungsschrift No. 163037l.
The first publication discloses a process for the installation of a windshield within an opening disposed in the body of a vehicle. According to the publication and the described process, the windshield is installed on the body of the vehicle through use of a strip of an initially soft, hardenable working material. The material is disposed on the body of the vehicle about and parallel to the edge of the windshield, itself, or the windshield opening. A particular aspect of the described process concerns the use of an electrical conductor which extends through the body of the strip. The electric conductor, providing a path of current when connected to an electric power source, is used to heat the working material forming the strip when the windshield is in place transforming the working material to the hardened state for securement of the windshield.
A particular disadvantage of a process as described above resides in the fact that it is limited substantially to the installation of a windshield within an opening disposed in the body of a vehicle. As such, the process as typified by the prior art necessitates both a high labor consuming and time consuming effort in the disassembly of a substantially cemented in windshield in the event, for example, that the windshield is damaged.
The second publication referred to above, is somewhat similar to the first publication. To this end, the publication discloses the use of a strip with a thermoplastic adhesive adapted to be plasticized by heat from a resistance wire connected across an electric current source. The resistance wire, likewise, is embedded within the thermoplastic adhesive.
Both of the prior art suffers various problems and disadvantages founded upon the use of specially prepared adhesive strips. In addition to the increased cost in fabricating the specially prepared strip, the strip having an embedded conductor, such as a resistance wire often gives rise to a problem of locating and separating the ends of the electrical conductor during installation. The problem of accessibility to the ends of the electrical conductor is even more acute following installation and following movement of the adhesive. Thus, it is often not possible to use the electrical conductor in the process of disassembly, if the windshield is capable of disassembly with heat. Further, the electrical conductor must be subject to high current flow to provide heat to the adhesive surfaces in sufficient amount to plasticize or harden the material described in these prior art publications.